FOTD ft No7 and Poppy King 'Celebrate Balmy & Beautiful!'

Hey lovelies!

HAPPY WEEKEND! Hope you've all had pleasant week :-) Sorry for being rather MIA of late; I've been back on the job hunt and, as you can imagine, it's taking up a huge bulk of my time! Shameless plea BUT if anyone knows of any entry-level PAID journo jobs in London/South East, please do give me a shout!

ANYWAY, today I used one of the gift sets I received for Christmas to create my FOTD!

It's the LE No7 and Poppy King 'Celebrate Balmy and Beautiful' Set! I was soo happy when I got my hands on it; I've heard great things about the Poppy King range for No7 and I thought this little gift set would come in handy!

The gift set contains -

• Shimmering Beauty Cheeks
• Shimmering Beauty Lips
• to form the Shimmering Beauty Lip & Cheek Multiple
• Beautiful Blotting Papers

I didn't realise, but the Shimmering Beauty Cheeks and Shimmering Beauty Lips combine to make the Shimmering Beauty Lip + Cheek Multiple! Whoops! You simply take the clear plastic lids off both products and put them in either end of the the gold 'Multiple'... Very handy!

Shimmering Beauty Lips

I don't know why but I was expecting this to be kind of pinky! It's not at all, it's a very GOSH Darling-esque nude...

The formula is matte and VERY drying! I made the mistake of applying it straight to my lips at first without a brush, which was an error on my part as it went EVERYWHERE, but it was MUCH easier with the brush! I also used the Beautiful Blotting Papers which made the lipstick last much longer! I set it using Lipcote, which applies like a gloss but dries matte and also helped maintain the longevity of the lipstick.

Shimmering Beauty Cheeks

I found this product very odd actually, it LOOKS like a lipstick... it feels like a LIPSTICK... but it's a face product, hmm!

It looks very similar to the Lips product above. It applies like a pinky sheen, I simply took some of the product off the top with my fingers and added it to the apples of my cheeks. It wasn't really strong enough to be a blush, so I added a little bronzer to make me look a little less washed out! Perhaps it will work best as a pinky highlighter for my cheek and brow bone, etc.

Shimmering Beauty Lip & Cheek Multiple

You slot the 2 products into each end of the empty gold 'Multiple', so it ends up looking like the product above! The black bits are the bottom end of each product!

Beautiful Blotting Papers

I've never used blotting papers before, I mean I've used tissue to blot my lipstick but never actual blotting 'papers'. I know you get them for reducing shine/oil on your face as well, but I've personally never used those either, I think they're a bit of a fad tbh!

These blotting papers looked really cute; they came in a dinky little cardboard pouch, and it contained about 10-15 blotting papers, about the size of 2 matchboxes laid side by side.

I used these on my lips when I was applying the Shimmering Beauty Lips and I definitely think they worked to make the lipstick last. They're so much more effective than using tissue, as the little bits of tissue odten get stuck on your lips... Classy lol!

Here's a FOTD using all the above mentioned products :-)

FOTD:

FACE: No7 Colour Calming Primer, MAC Fix+ to prime, MAC Studio Finish Concealer (applied with a No7 Concealer Brush), MAC Pro Longwear Foundation (applied with a MAC 190 Foundation Brush; blended in with a ELF Stippling Brush), MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural to set (applied with an Avon Powder Brush), No7 Shimmering Beauty Cheeks, Bourjois Delice de Poudre Bronzer (51 - applied with an old bronzing brush), MAC Fix+ to set.

EYES: Urban Decay Primer Potion (Original), Urban Decay Baked e/s (Buck - all over lid, Smog - in outer corners, Hustle - on edge - all applied with a No7 Eyeshadow Brush), MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack (applied with a MAC 266 Brush); Soap & Glory SUPERCAT Carbon Gloss liner on top lid, Avon Color Trend Kajal Stick (Black) along lower waterline, 2 coats of CoverGirl Lash Blast Volume Mascara (Black).

EYEBROWS: Ruby & Millie Brow Enhance (Powder + Wax - applied with a W7 Angled Brush).

LIPS: LUSH Bubblegum lip scrub to prime, No7 Shimmering Beauty Lips (applied with The Body Shop Lip Brush), No7 Beautiful Blotting Papers, Lipcote to set.

I enjoyed playing around with this little gift set, and I think the idea of combining the lip & cheek products into a 'Multiple' is really clever! However I was quite disappointed with both products. The lip product was REALLY drying, and the cheek product was just a bit weird. I'll keep using them and see how I get on, maybe it's just first impressions! :-)

Have you tried any of the No7 and Poppy King products before?

Let me know!

Love,

Sophia

xo

Ps. Today I learnt how much I SUCK at applying MAC Fluidline! Literally I made so many errors I kept having to make the line thicker, does anyone have any tips? Lol I don't even know if I was using the brush the right way up! :S